Honoring Our Past, Celebrating Our Future

On June 25, 1988, more than 2,000 people met at NC State’s Memorial Bell Tower and marched to Capitol Square in Raleigh’s first-ever celebration of gay pride.

This September marks a new chapter in Raleigh’s LGBTQ history, honoring the past and embracing a more inclusive present and future as we echo their voices on Harrington St. in Raleigh.

Mandy Carter. Photo credit: Bill Bamberger

We are thrilled to have North Carolina-based LGBTQ rights activist Mandy Carter, who organized and marched in Raleigh’s first pride celebration, will speak at the beginning of the festival to highlight where the LGBTQ community was 30 years ago and how we continue to boldly move forward.

Carter, still active in a career spanning 50 years, is the co-founder of two groundbreaking social justice organizations: Southerners On New Ground, which supports LGBTQ people in the South, and the National Black Justice Coalition, a civil rights group primarily advocating for the needs of the African-American LGBTQ community.

The inaugural festival begins at 4 p.m. at the intersection of Hargett and Harrington streets near Legends Nightclub (300 West Hargett St.) and The Dillon Raleigh. The event launches what NC Pride at Night hopes is an annual event that becomes a permanent part of the dynamic heartbeat of Raleigh and a yearly destination for people across the city, state and surrounding areas to celebrate diversity and love in its many forms.

Donations collected during the event will support the Crape Myrtle Festival a nonprofit supporting people with HIV and AIDS. NC Pride at Night plans to support different nonprofits each year of the new Pride event. More detailed announcements of events, vendors and performers will be made throughout the next two months.

NC Pride at Night is seeking volunteers and sponsors. For more information, go to ncprideatnight or follow us on social media. Twitter: @ncprideatnight; Instagram: ncprideatnight; Facebook: facebook.com/ncprideatnight.

About NC Pride at Night: We exist to unite and serve members of the LGBTQ community in North Carolina by providing community events that highlight inclusivity, equality and financial awareness of LGBTQ issues. NC Pride at Night is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code.